Splint and Corai spent several days gathering needed materials for their project. They were hellbent on beginning the greatest act of beast taming in all dwarfdom, or at least in The Somber Sling. Snow was beginning to fall as well, something they all agreed they could do without but accepted as inevitable. Feral began felling more highwoods to finish the stockade walls, though he had drawn up plans he's run by his clansmen (the group effectively seeing themselves as one after living and working together for two years) to have their other walls torn down and reversed outward to permit building a small armory to store their weapons and armor in, posting one of the newly molted giant beetles to keep keafolk out, as well as building a small apartment from adobe to give everyone true personal beds and space to call their own, after years of sleeping in the dormitory. After all was said and done, Splint and Corai brought their intentions forward and Corai began to carve mine tracks down to where Mattock ended his dig.
“I'll be downstairs if anyone needs me.” Mattock said, stepping out into the cold and heading for the food storage. “Alright, don't light your beard on fire like last time if you're gonna cook something.” Slade said with a grin, a small chorus of laughs coming from the group. “One time Slade, that happened ONE. TIME.” Mattock said irritably as he moved to close the door behind him. Squid's sudden cries and her water breaking however brought him back in, Mantis and Cobalt helping her into a bed. After nearly three agonizing hours (that were only partially numbed by a barrel of blueberry cordial) a little boy joined the clan, whome Squid named Nightfire. Feral decided they'd build the gate with a single slab of pig iron incorporated, the bridge to commemorate the child's birth. Not long after the vamari left, congratulating the new parents. Another vain of gold was struck as well when an auxiliary access tunnel was dug. Feral made a hatch and door to it as work continued to make the route suitable for a mincart. And in good fortune, another child was born to a childless couple that was Mona and Lev. They named the hardy looking girl Coral Harp, since the following day she seemed to take great joy in playing with one the silver xelics that had died years ago left. It was also well into winter when they realized the caravan from home hadn't come.
“Oi! Get outta here you mangy gits! Go on and get gone before I bash your miserable heads in!” Lev shouted angrily at a tribe of coati men. They just yelled at him in whatever strange language they spoke. “Oh to hell with you, BOSS!” He shouted, and Feral came over, still dragging in a log. “What is it Lev, I'm busy.” He said with a grunt. “These damned Coati folk are being a nusiance. Where's Mantis?” Feral shrugged “Hell if I know. If they're really bothering-” a sudden peircing cry came form the log-bridge; one had blundered into the weapon traps and a flying arm was enough fo an indicator that the victim had died. “Aaanyway, if they're bothering you so much get a weapon from the dorm and deal with them yourself or find someone to wipe the brainless fools out.” “No worries, I'm on it!” Slade said, walking by. “Those stupid things gave me the finger earlier, just needed the go ahead to stomp them.” Andi shouting obscenities drew their attention, but they dismissed it when they heard the sound of a dying coati man and a breif crack of something being smashed with a rock.
-
“Get off me you little shit!” Andi said angrily as the coati man jumped on her, trying to pull her cloak and her coinbag away. She kicked it off and got to her feet at the same time as the irritated coati man, and yelled at it, which caused it to flinch and run only for Andi to come at him from behind and tackle him onto the thick river ice. She grabbed it by the arm and bent it backwards unnaturally until it snapped, resulting in a horrific compound fracture that pieced the skin and spoted some blood before delivering a storm of punches to its body. An elbow to its gut however, resulted in a nauseating display as the beastman vomited all over both itself and Andi, which only served to infuriate her further than the initial mugging attempt already had. She slammed it against the ice sveral times, leaving the stunned mess on the ice, coming back with a fist-sized rock in hand and smahsing it's skull into unrecognizable paste, a ring of curses following every bash.
-
Andi came around the stockade dragging the body with the bloody stone in hand. “Little shit tried to mug me.” She said with an unbelieving tone. Suddenly a coati man rushed in, running for the depot to steal something, anything, so his tribe's deaths would not have been a total waste, only for Ragushat, the herd matriarch, to swing around and put her tusk through the man-beast's head, pulling off and throwing it aside with her trunk. “Annoying little pricks.” Lev said. “Slade will deal witht hem, he's a capable enough fighter to killa bunch of annoying critter folk.” Feral said reassuringly. Not long later, Slade did return, spattered in blood and his beard laden with clumps of snow. “Problem solved!” He said with a smile.
A flock of giant wren heralded the birth of Targe and Zinc's first child, whom they named Wren in their honor. The stockade was also finished at last, though soon a chunk would be torn down and rebuilt later to expand the protected area they could build in. A merchant's horn heralded the hobgoblins' winterly caravan, and an advance scout from the caravan said that they'd run into trouble, though the bugbears in question had been slaughtered uncompromisingly. In accordance to their usual MO, Feral sent some of the clan out to clean up the mess and bring in their weapons and armor. A master bugbear scout however caused a minor interruption, but was quickly dealt with by the sturdy hobgoblin guards, who impaled it with extreme prejudice with their pikes and swords. However the enemy seemed to be willing to try again as another warband made their move, led by a hammerbear. The hobgoblin pikemen charged forward into the lead bear, an axebear who found himself slain when a pike punched through his head, the crude copper helmet not offering any protection against the steel tip. The lead two warriors then fell upon the enemy chieftain, one pike bashing into the hammerbear's side, bone breaking and copper scales being dislodged from the vest holding them. Another punched through the scales and leather, tearing into the flesh and hide beneath. The bear roared in defiance and batted one of the warriors into the sturdy highwood walls of the stockade pike and all, only to have the second warrior get behind him and stab him in the back, ruining the lower spine and his pike nearly going all the way through. The hobgoblin manmaged to pull his weapon out before, in it's last spastic use of its legs, the hammerbear chief wheeled around and smashed his hammer into the helmeted head of the hobgoblin. While this didn't slay him, he did get sent into the snow and mud with a thud and slight 'splop' noise, a puff of powdery snow being kicked up. The hammerbear called for his warriors to save him as the first pikeman got to his feet and stomped towards him, only for them to waver and turn to flee. “YOU COWARDS! YOU HONORLESS SCUM!” the hammerbear bellowed in rage as he was pressed onto his face and had a pike slammed through his helmeted head. The two hobgoblins, being more nimble than the rest of the guard detail gave chase to the fleeing bugbears, managing to catch and kill one more axebear before the three survivors escaped into thick underbrush. After the mess was said and done, another thief fell to the ancillary traps while another two were caught and imprisoned and Feral told the others to be quick about clean-up.
“All in all a good start to the new year right boss?” Lev asked cheerfully. “Quite so Lev. Nobody important got hurt, and we get to offload some of Skull's work. All in all, a fine start to the new year indeed.” Feral replied with wide smile. The two watch the cleanup from atop their lonesome watchtower, which would soon be eclipsed in height by the armory. The snow was melting and the river ice thawing, and with it came hopes others would come and make this place their home.
[So yeah! We're on year three of the settlement and year 8 of the world! Some babies were born, digshafts dug. I'm honestly glad the hobgobs dealt with the bugbears (one was literally alert and fleeing enemies; they'd wiped out all but two before I realized what happened) because it spared me the trouble. one even earned a title, though I have no idea what it was. The lacey somethingorother. Armory's being built, the stockade expanded somewhat, and while it went unreported in the story, the roadbed is nearing completion. I check the popcap as well and set it to 35 so as to keep the clan to a reasonable size until I decide to have a second group build a proper fortress underground.]
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Topic: The Story of Limulid, Goldenrocks. - Retired (Read 48006 times)